Telkom says the Extramarks’ offering is aligned to the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS), the latest curriculum issued by South Africa’s Department of Basic Education.

“The service offers live chat functionality for additional assistance. The learners also benefit from other services such as daily study schedule, group study, progress tracking and mentor-guided learning,” reads a statement from Telkom.

“Today’s generation of learners have a natural flair for technology devices such as tablets. It is time we transform their digital instincts into providing anytime-anywhere access to quality education. Our collaboration with Telkom will help us achieve this objective,” said Tanay Kulshreshtha, Country Head of Extramarks South Africa.

The service is only available to Telkom subscribers with a 24-month contract, and qualifying customers will receive an SMS with a voucher number and a link to the Extramarks website. They will have to register on the Extramarks website in order to access education content, according to Telkom.

Handheld phone, loved for its handy keyboard and hated for its terrible web browser, dies at age 20. Was once the go-to device of millions. President Obama couldn’t put his down.

It was a good run. But the BlackBerry that you all once knew and loved has passed away.

BlackBerry announced on Tuesday that it would no longer make the BlackBerry Classic — a model that used the old QWERTY keys and was popular before the age of touchscreen smartphones.

Ralph Pini, chief operating officer and general manager for devices at BlackBerry, wrote in a blog post Tuesday that the Classic and its predecessors were an “incredible workhorse device for customers, exceeding all expectations.”

“But, the Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market. We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better,” Pini wrote … in what essentially is the device’s obituary.

The title of the post was “Change is Only Natural: A Classic Model Makes Way.”

Pini began it by touchingly (pun intended) writing that “Sometimes it can be very tough to let go. For BlackBerry, and more importantly for our customers, the hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences.”

BlackBerry (BBRY, Tech30), the Canadian tech company formerly known as Research in Motion, has been struggling for years due to increased competition from Apple (AAPL, Tech30) as well as Samsung and other companies that make phones running on Google’s (GOOGL, Tech30) Android software.

Pini said that BlackBerry will continue its new focus on smartphones that run its BB 10 operating system as well as ones that run on Android, such as the BlackBerry Priv.

BlackBerry has struggled to prove to Wall Street that it can survive on its own. The stock fell about 15% last year as well.

That’s why CEO John Chen, who took over in late 2013, has slowly but surely moved BlackBerry away from its hardware roots and focused it more on software.

The company reported last month that sales from software and services in its most recent quarter accounted for nearly 40% of total revenue. Still, the company barely broke even.

Some investors have also hoped that BlackBerry could wind up selling out to a larger tech company. There have been several rumors during the past few years about Samsung possibly being interested. But none have come to pass.

We want to let you know about some upcoming changes to OneDrive. On August 10, 2016, the amount of storage that comes with OneDrive will change from 15 GB to 5 GB. We are also discontinuing the 15 GB camera roll bonus. You can learn more at our FAQ.

There is no action you need to take, because your OneDrive account is currently below the new storage limits. Even though you aren’t currently affected, we want to keep you updated on all important changes to OneDrive. If you’d like to check your account, you can visit the Storage page.

We realize these are big changes to a service you rely on. We want to apologize for any inconvenience they may cause you. We made a difficult decision, but it’s one that will let us sustainably operate OneDrive into the future.

WeChat, which connects more than half a billion individual users via the mobile messaging service, is launching a separate application for enterprise clients.

The app, named Qiye Weixin or Enterprise WeChat in English, is under beta testing and is expected to be rolled out in the next couple of months.

WeChat, owned by Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, said in a statement on Thursday that the enterprise messaging service is designed for work-related communication.

“With WeChat being widely adopted in everyday life, more people have been discussing work-related subjects on WeChat with colleagues when they are off-work,” it said.

“While some enjoy it, some others find it a burden because WeChat mixes up their personal life and work,” said the Shenzhen-based company, adding the new enterprise service will help people enjoy a better work-life balance.

Ji Yanhang, with the Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, said that with the number of individual users exceeding 650 million, WeChat is keen to expand its market to enterprise users.

“Several companies have already jumped into the enterprise instant messaging market, because they find it as an important gateway to access clients, who may be interested in digitalizing their entire business operational process, not only communication, but also human resources management and enterprise resources planning,” he said.

Tencent, which built its business empire on developing social networking tools, introduced its first enterprise-used instant messaging tool RTX in 2003. In 2014, it added an enterprise account inside WeChat to help employers better connect and collaborate.

But in terms of launching a separate messaging app for enterprise users, its rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd enjoys some first-mover advantage by introducing DingTalk in February 2015. The app, which targets small and medium-sized businesses, has gained more than 1 million enterprise users, said Alibaba in its latest financial report at the end of January.

Despite that, given WeChat’s ruling position in China’s social media world, the new app could soon catch up. Ji of Analysys International said the enterprise messaging app market is still taking shape.

“Even if WeChat can only turn a small part of its individual users into its enterprise service users, that would make a decent market share,” he said.

Chen Jia, a white-collar worker in Beijing, said she desperately wants some replacement for WeChat as the app has been dominating her life. “All my friends, families, colleagues, classmates are connected with me via WeChat. It is such chaos online everyday,” she said.

“But still I don’t have the nerve to not use it because when something important happens, people still contact you on WeChat,” said the 28-year-old.

According to the China Social Media Impact 2015 survey conducted by Kantar Group, an increasing number of Chinese said social media had less positive influence in their lives while 15 percent said it had, in fact, made their lives worse.

Not too long ago, this announcement was unthinkable, and days ahead of Microsoft’s planned SQL Server 2016 event in New York with a full launch planned for mid-2017. Announced, Microsoft’s SQL Server launch later this year will be available on Linux with new features including end-to-end encryption, in-memory support, more advanced business intelligence (BI) capabilities, biggest news being Linux compatibility.

Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group, announced this after SQL Server had hailed as a strictly Windows product, but as Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s executive vice president of its cloud and enterprise group, wrote this week, the company has decided that it’s time to bring it to Linux as well.

“SQL Server on Linux will provide customers with even more flexibility in their data solution,” / “One with mission-critical performance, industry-leading TCO, best-in-class security, and hybrid cloud innovations — like Stretch Database which lets customers access their data on-premises and in the cloud whenever they want at low cost — all built in.”

The news in a blog post heralding SQL Server as a consistent data platform both on-premises and in the cloud, across Windows Server 2016 and Linux, wrote Guthrie “Bringing SQL Server to Linux is another way we are making our products and new innovations more accessible to a broader set of users and meeting them where they are.”

Microsoft’s complicated relationship with Linux (and open-source software in general) dates back decades. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, insulting the open operating system (OS) kernel, calling it “communism,” and threatening patent litigation over the years.

The company’s philosophy has changed dramatically under CEO Satya Nadella. Under Nadella’s “Microsoft Loves Linux” mantra, the company has enabled support for Linux on Microsoft Azure, partnered with companies such as Hortonworks and Ubuntu on Linux support, and launched open-source efforts including open-sourcing ASP.NET and moving the lion’s share of Microsoft’s code off of CodePlex and onto GitHub.

SQL Server for Linux is currently available in a private beta, and is planned for wide rollout in 2017

Originally sent to Coursera Alumnus

This is because of enrollments in the University of Maryland’s entrepreneurship and innovation courses with Coursera to 1,000,000 learners, we are astonished with the popularity, and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to your entrepreneurial learning.

Celebration of this occasion, a small thank you for participations, we are offering a limited number of complimentary eBooks on The Opportunity Analysis Canvas Third Edition in partnership with Venture Artisans Press and the University of Maryland’s Master of Professional Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship Program.

With the free offer code of free4me, you can receive this eBook at no cost. Simply click HERE, choose “I want this!”, and enter your code of free4me for this free 104 page eBook.

The The Opportunity Analysis Canvas shares how to become more effective in identifying and analyzing entrepreneurial opportunities, and building sustainably competitive companies, by exploring:

Why are entrepreneurs successful?

How can you develop your thinking to be a better entrepreneur?

What are the keys to developing winning entrepreneurial ideas?

Once again, a thank you for past enrollments, and a best wishes in entrepreneurial journeys with this complimentary eBook as a guide.

Visionary leaders have the ability to see a preferred future, operate in the present, and utilize
the resources around them to architect a clear path to a new destination. They work tirelessly to
empower those around them to bring a vision to life.

Architects of Tomorrow imagine a future that is rich and full of hope. A future where
problems are solved, questions are answered, confusion gives way to clarity.

As the world’s tech companies gathered in Barcelona Monday 22 February until the Thursday of Mobile World Congress 2016. Brand Finance released its annual review of the state of their brands, the Brand Finance Tech 100.

Key Finds:

WeChat grows brand value by 83%

Apple extends lead with record breaking R2,3 trillion brand value

Galaxy S6 restores Samsung’s brand rating to AAA

Uber enters table with R175bn brand value

WeChat a fast growing brand:

WeChat increased its brand value by 83% this year, making it one of the fastest growing brands in the technology table. The messaging app, also offers a payment platform, it’s rapid growth, registered users totalling an astonishing 1.1bn, of which 100m base outside of China.

Tencent, the holding company that owns and operates WeChat, recently announced that WeChat will start charging its users for payment transactions in March 2016, a move that could boost revenues even higher.

The World’s Most Valuable Tech Brands (Top 10):

Apple Not Rotten Yet

With a value of R2.3 trillion Apple remains the world’s most valuable brand. Despite annual predictions of a fall from grace, brand value is up 14%. Revenue for the last three months of 2015 was a record-breaking R96,2 billion. There has been much disappointment about slowing growth, this must be seen in the context of an exceptional period at the end of 2014 following the release of the iPhone 6. To not just maintain but increase sales in a saturated market is encouraging and assertions that Apple has gone rotten are premature.

Samsung’s brand rating to AAA

Samsung’s brand rating has been restored to AAA this year, which indicates the strength and future potential of the brand, this is thanks in part to the positive reception of the Galaxy S6. The significantly improved design also put the Galaxy S6 on the radar of iPhone users. The unveiled Galaxy S7 looks to follow the footsteps of its predecessor but adds features such as water resistance, extended battery life and expandable storage option. Revenues improved this year, most coming from Samsung’s semiconductor business which produces chips for most smartphone manufacturers, including, ironically, Apple.

Uber Starts Well a Tough Road Ahead

Uber established itself in the top end of this year’s technology table with an impressive brand value of R175bn. This makes the app’s brand more valuable than giants such as Panasonic, Dell and Sony.However challenging times could lie ahead.

Uber continues to face regulatory challenges in the west, as the company is bombarded with protests and lawsuits from taxi unions and transport authorities while in the east, the company struggles to turn a profit due to fierce competitors, such as Didi Kuaidi, the favoured low-cost ride company in China.

– Facebook is the top high-tech service platform in South Africa that has equal take-up male to female. – findings, announced in September, showed Facebook the most popular social network, followed by YouTube and Twitter. The study excludes instant messaging services. Continue reading →

In an interview he gave to the Pretoria News yesterday, University of Free State Vice Chancellor and Rector, Professor Jonathan Jansen said that despite the crisis the education sector is facing, union pressures and nationalist sentiments will always trump common sense when it comes to hiring the best teachers regardless of where they come from.

Speaking to John Robbie this morning, Prof Jansen said that this is not only reflection on the teachers in the system but on the politics around them and this support of incompetence by teachers unions is what is keeping us back.

Prof Jansen said that we’ve stagnated and even gone backwards in terms of our Maths and Science pass rate and that we have got to “ask ourselves, what have we been doing for the past 21 years to fix this.”

Asked about his view on foreign teachers, Professor Jansen says:

I love Zimbabwean teachers. I would hire a Zimbabwean teacher, just on paper ahead of a South African teacher. They are better trained in subject matter – when you look at township schools with top Maths and Science results, 9 out of 10 it’s a Zimbabwean teacher. Secondly, their work ethic is different. They don’t come with the long history of dysfunction and disruption. They come to school to work and they deliver. At the end of the work is not about how many teachers you employ, it’s whether the children get a deal out of those who teach.

— Professor Jonathan Jansen, University of Free State Vice Chancellor and Rector